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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Fit for Free

Do you give up? Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. When you add those together you get the
perfect place to workout for free.

Now I don’t know about you, but I get extremely nervous at the gym
lifting weights next to men The Incredible Hulk lookalikes who
can probably bench a weight triple the size of me.

Scary.

Yet, I don’t want to sacrifice the benefits of weight
training. I also don’t want to pay to join a small, intimate gym. So
being the money-conscious woman that I am, I found ways to incorporate simple
exercises that I can perform right in my very own apartment!

I started incorporating a few of these easy bodyweight
exercises after I injured myself while training for a race (I’ll talk about
that another time). After a few sore days and a few short weeks, my injury started to subside and I began
noticing the difference in my body. I actually had defined muscles!

So if you’re trying to be fit on a budget, incorporate a few of these quick exercises into your workout routine 3-4 times a week.

Every other morning I perform these three strengthening moves: side leg
lifts, push ups, and crunches.

Here are a few short clips that demonstrate how to properly carry out each move
so you won’t injure yourself.

Side Leg Lifts:

I started this bodyweight move to strengthen my hips since I was having IT band
issues. Within a couple of weeks my injury began to subside!

Push-Ups:

Start off with these push-ups for beginners!

Then gradually introduce these push-ups!

I began push-ups on my knees but after I felt stronger I started to incorporate
both types into my workout routine.

Crunches:

The music in the first video makes me want to hit the dance
floor! That's not the only reason why this mini tutorial is great. I love that it correctly tells you how to carry out the crunches without injuring yourself.

Don't forget the side crunches! Take note of his breathing technique. He exhales as he comes up and inhales as he goes down.

So now I urge you to take the challenge and incorporate
these 3 simple bodyweight strengthening moves into your weekly workout routine.
I promise you will not regret it once you see how great the benefits are!